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10 April 2012

Many of you wondered what actually happened to StonerRockDublin over the last couple of weeks. No updates over a long time, not present on Facebook or Twitter. But what really happened?
I got a bit bored with my job and I wanted to get something else while staying with the product I was working with over the last year. Since I had no change to find the job I was looking for here in Ireland I started looking around somewhere else. At the same time I broke up with my girlfriend, since that wasn't working out to well either. Unfortunately, the apartment is a bit over my budget and therefore I have to leave the apartment very soon. I then lost his motivation to write due to all of this at the same time.
I applied for a job back in Germany and I was lucky to get this job. This is why I am going back to Germany in a few weeks and I am not too sure what will happen to StonerRockDublin.
I would like to keep it updated and continue posting about Stoner Rock here in Dublin, since it was a great time and I always got great feedback for this blog. But it would be weird to continue, considering the fact that I won't live in Dublin anymore.
I will do a few new entries before I leave and I also got a Stoner Rock compilation planned. So, give me some feedback what you think and we will see what happens to our website in the future.
Cheers for everything
Bene

28 February 2012

Sleep - That's what you shouldn't do on this Wednesday the 23rd of May 2012. The Black Sabbath influenced Doom Rockers from San Jose/California will be playing a gig in The Button Factory here in Dublin and you definitely should not miss this gig. For those who are not familiar with Sleep, check out the video below. It's the one hour track "Dopesmoker" which has only been released in full length in 2003 on TeePee Records. A shortened bootleg version was released by Sleep themselves somewhen last century.
For those who are familiar with the Band, see you in the Button Factory when these lads are on stage.

Early Years
Sleep evolved in the early 1990s from the band Asbestosdeath, which was established by vocalist/bassist Al Cisneros, drummer Chris Hakius, and guitarist Tom Choi. Asbestosdeath expanded to a quartet with the introduction of Matt Pike on guitar, and recorded two singles - "Dejection" for Profane Existence and the self released "Unclean". Choi departed, and would later found Operator Generator, It Is I, Noothgrush, and Las Vegas' Black Jetts. Asbestosdeath recruited Justin Marler as replacement and the band adopted the new name, Sleep.

Recording Era
Their debut album Volume One was released in 1991. Frequently compared to bands like Saint Vitus, Sleep soon gained a devoted fanbase within the developing doom metal scene. Marler quit the band soon after to take up life as a monk, leaving the band as a power trio for the recording of their Volume Two EP, which was released officially by Off The Disk Records in 1991.
The band's next album was sent to the independent label, Earache, as a demo. Recorded at Razors Edge studios in San Francisco, with Billy Anderson handling production, the tape showcased Sleep's love of all things retro, from the blatant Black Sabbath/Blue Cheer influences, to their fixation with 1970's-style tube amplification. The label immediately signed the band and released the tape exactly as it was received.

Sleep's Holy Mountain (1992) is widely considered a seminal album in the evolution of stoner metal. The album's release was followed by a potentially lucrative offer from London Records, and Sleep signed with them. Around this time, Earache released its first Black Sabbath Tribute album, and Sleep contributed a cover of "Snowblind".
Under their new contract, they began work on their third album, Dopesmoker, in 1995. Much to the dismay of executives at London records, Dopesmoker was a single song more than one hour long. London Records declared the album unmarketable and refused to release it. Sleep returned to the studio and then submitted their second attempt at the new album. They had retitled it Jerusalem, re-written some of the lyrics and trimmed it down to a "lean" 52 minutes, but it was essentially the same as Dopesmoker. London Records again refused to release it. Frustrated and generally unhappy with the situation, the members of Sleep decided to disband.

Reunion
In May 2009, Sleep reformed to perform two exclusive reunion sets in England as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival. In the shows the band performed for the first time a song that had previously been intended for inclusion on, and wrote during the Dopesmoker recording sessions and widely unheard entitled 'Antarcticans Thawed'.
On November 19, 2009 Al Cisneros confirmed in an interview with The Obelisk that Sleep will be reuniting in the fall of 2010 for some US dates. It has also been confirmed that Jason Roeder (of experimental metal band Neurosis) will replace Chris Hakius on drums.
The group are confirmed to play the ATP New York 2010 music festival in Monticello, New York this September where they will perform Holy Mountain in its entirety. They are touring the rest of the United States, playing headlining dates and festivals, through September.
Sleep embarked on a 9-date US tour shortly after the All Tomorrow's Parties festival.
During 2011, Sleep were confirmed as an act for the 2012 annual music festival, San Miguel Primavera Sound, taking place in Barcelona over late May and early June.
On April 14, 2012, Sleep will headline the 17th annual Roadburn Festival. A band statement for which reads “Sleep are honored to attend the Symposium of Iommic Research, Tilburg at Roadburn”. In May 2012 the band will support Slayer at the All Tomorrow's Parties 'I'll Be Your Mirror' festival at Alexandra Palace, London.

24 February 2012

I'm pretty sure that everybody knows this feeling: You're sitting at home, going through your music library and you don't know what to listen to. This is where Chocolate Love Factory from Northern Ireland comes in place. Influenced by many different artists like Kyuss or Queens Of The Stone Age, Tool, PJ Harvey and Stevie Wonder, Chocolate Love Factory is creating a great mixture of all of these genres and bands. And if you think that sounds like a weird mash-up of different genres, you're mistaken. The 3 lads know how to combine that all and their unique sound is ranging from Stoner Rock with Blues touches to Progressive Rock or even towards Indie.
They recently released their latest album "Octavia", which was recorded during winter 2011. The overall sound of the album is a bit deeper than the rest of their stuff and leaned more towards stoner rock, with a few more grooving elements. But this album still shows that they don't really care about what genre their music actually ranges in, they just play what they like and what sounds good. And the punk/hardcore touches here and there fit in really well. My favourite on this record is the downtuned track Octavia. But don't take my word, listen for yourself!

Northern Irish 3-piece Chocolate Love Factory are fresh out of the studio and
ready to unleash their first EP, 'Octavia'.

Groovy, dirty and intense; the EP is dripping in the distinctive octave guitar
sound that guitarist Rory Dee has made his own. It mixes melody with filthy
riffage, and the band (which includes new bassist Pearse McClelland) are
confident that the set of songs presented on 'Octavia' will be an accurate
representation of where the band is right now.

After a busy 2011 releasing singles 'Rat Bag' & 'Texty Texty' in Spring &
Airbrake, Belfast in March; and summer single 'Coral Lady' with an Irish tour
in August, the band are back to prove themselves once again.

Recorded in the winter months of 2011 with Neill McCartney at Pretty Circus
Studios in Belfast, CLF are eager to share their new material in 2012.
Releasing single 'Scarlett Blues' as a taster on 2nd February (download only
at chocolatelovefactory.bandcamp.com), the EP itself will be released on
both CD and online on 16th February.

21 February 2012

Can you remember the days when Karma to Burn had a singer in the band? It didn't sound bad at all, but Karma to Burn got better as soon as they turned into an instrumental stoner rock band.
Same happened to the Dublin based trio Engines of Ruin. They have a few tracks with a singer and they have a very grunge-like sound with a great touch of Stoner Rock, which you can listen to at Reverbnation. Those tracks are great work and they really sound good.
But then, during production of their debut album, the singer left the band and they continued to make music as an instrumental stoner rock band. Which was, not only in my eyes, a great decision.
Their debut contains heavy usage of the Wah pedal, jam parts and a lot of bad-ass riffs. Karma to Burn runs into a truckload of Wah pedals and starts jamming right on the spot, is probably the best way to describe their sound. Nice groovy tunes on a great debut album. The band is currently writing and recording new material, and we are all looking forward to their new stuff.

Having gone through various line-up changes over the last couple of years,
Engines Of Ruin are now a three piece instrumental rock band, consisting of
bass, drums and guitars. This came about accidentally as the singer left the band
at a time when they had just started to write their debut EP.

Rather than putting everything on hold and audition for singers they decided to
hold off for the time being and continue on instrumentally, scrapped what
they had written and started over. The band have again looked into getting a
singer, but to date have not been fortunate enough to get the right fit. The hunt
continues….
Guitarist Adam Brewer took on the responsibility of engineering and mixing the
EP. This was no easy task as he had the added pressure of balancing this with
his guitar duties. Adam had experimented with recording earlier tracks for the
band, but this is his biggest recording gig to date.

"Engines of Ruin are an all-instrumental heavy blues band from Dublin. With the pedal to the metal, and I do mean that literally, the band lays it on heavy with tons of wah-wah and reverb. Engines of Ruin rocks you into oblivion with their scorching solos, crunchy power chords and substantial groove. Check'em out now!" - HeavyPlanet.net

19 February 2012

You don't really need guitars to make good music. Bass guitars are enough. The Italian band Talisman Stone from Ravenna knows that and bass guitars are pretty much all they use, apart from Sitar, Synth, Drums and Tabla. Andrea is playing the 5 string bass, Erica is playing the 4 string and Lucia is playing the drums.
All that makes their sound really hard to classify. It ranges from Industrial, Psychedelic Rock over to Stoner Rock, Shoegaze and Post Hardcore with a lot of bass driven sounds, of course. Because of this, they are really worth listening to. And they are coming to Ireland for a short tour around the country, so if you're around, you should definitely go to their gigs. The dates are as follows:

TalismanStone are a trio playing without guitars, made for 2/3 by women and for 2/3 by bassists. Indeed they’re formed by Andrea on vocals, 5 strings bass guitar, effects, sitar and synth; Erica playing the 4 strings bass and on the backing vocals; Lucia playing drums and tabla. Their sound is the result of stoner, rock, shoegaze, noise rock, post punk, post hardcore, industrial, dark, metal and indie influences, and that’s maybe the reason why it is still difficult to classify them in only one genre. Active since 2008 with concerts and recordings: our first album "Sunya" produced by the German label Graveyard Confessional, and this autumn they’ll have their second album "Lovecraftopolis" produced by the Italian label Moonlight Records

16 February 2012

Take heavy distorted guitar riffs, stomping drums and a nice bassline, mix that all up with a lot of Metal, Stoner Rock and Doom, add a few guitar solis and a great voice and you have Castero from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. These 4 lads definitely know how to make great Metal influenced heavy Stoner Rock.Their debut album "Consequence of Thoughts" was released 2010 and offers a wide range of various sounds from Doom Metal to classic Stoner Rock. And yet you can hear the rough Castero sound in every song, which makes it a fantastic debut album.
Therefore a big thanks to Johnny for sending me their CD via post.

Debut album "Consequence of thoughts" was released on April 16th 2010.

To date Castero have played on bills with Diamond Head, O/D Saxon, Fivewilldie, Misty Morning, Trench Hell, Haieeta, Brigantia, Three Hour Ceasefire, Wardog,Bad Boat, Old Season, Mourning Beloveth, The Wounded Kings & they have also played at all 6 Siege of Limerick festivals....

Castero are now working on material for their forthcoming second album, this should be ready to roll in 2012.
Its all about the Groove..............

14 February 2012

Thanks to Mick from the Stoner Doom band "Blood Red Water" from Venice/Italy for sharing their five track debut EP with us
Blood Red Water has a lot of Sludge Metal influences which gives their mostly Stoner dominated fuzz sound enough energy to tear down the whole city of Venice.
Singer Michele can definitely not deny his Grindcore roots, and his voice gives their overall sound a bit of a metal touch. Especially the song "Modern slave blues", which, at the same time, is my favourite track on their EP. Considering that this is their first release, it is a really nice album.

"When life is a stormy sea of addiction and grief, music could be a strong lighthouse”

Blood Red Water formed in the summer of 2010 with Michele (vocals, ex grindcore bands: NAB and Grunter Screams) Fiorica (ex and bass player in Blank Symbol, now at the drum). Michele & Fiorica were longtime friends, drinking partners and united by the passion for sludge music so they decided to create something wicked.
Immediately Francesco “Volt” (of mr. Boonekamp) joined them as guitarist and feedback noise junkie, so Mick, Fiorica and Volt started to create their music as Blood Red Water.

Lorenzo Petri from Gli sportivi , Valium doll as bass player joined them after few months.

For Blood Red Water it became clear that the band would not be the umpteenth cover band in the zone but their interest/purpose is writing the music they like and feel.
All members love bands like EyeHateGod, Eletric Wizard, St. Vitus (list of musical influences is long, very long) but - jam after jam - they realized to not belong to any particular genre. Some tunes are pretty doomy, other tunes could be more into stoner stuff.
Blood Red Water lyrics are a merciless portrait of what can save a life or ditch it. Far away from fantasy themes, lyrics give off Michele’s life experience; you can even find redeem words as well as the deepest dopesick despair.
At the end of 2011, they entered at the Flameout studio and they did their first 5 songs EP “Tales of Addiction and Despair”.
For the time being the EP is in digital format with a free download, but a physical release of “Tales of Addiction and Despair” is coming soon in the pure spirit of D.I.Y.

In the meantime line-up is changed: Lorenzo left them and they got a new additional guitar player; so the current line-up is:
Michele vocals/Fiò drums/Francesco “ Volt” guitars
and Dodi guitars
Now BRW are planning to play live and spread their EP as much as they can.
Let the Blood In!

12 February 2012

The Stoner Rock trio Electric Taurus from Dublin is influenced by bands like Hendrix, Clutch, Black Sabbath, Grand Magus, Sleep and many more. They use these influences to create nice, down-tempo Stoner Rock with a lot of Blues elements.
Their four track demo album, which you can listen to on Reverbnation, has it all: nice bluesy basslines, heavy riffs, grooving drums and a voice that reminds me of the former Spiritual Beggars singer Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand.
Electric Taurus is for fans of Spiritual Beggars, Lonely Kamel and stoner bands that are heavily influenced by blues.

The band changed their members quite often, and right the current line up is as follows:

Matt and Rob formed Electric Taurus in January 2010, they change few drummers, have the privilege to play with Mino Vitelli and Chris Styne. Finally settle down with Mauro Frison on the drummer stool.
Sadly Rob left the band in May 2011 to join his sweetheart in England. Matt then took charge of the vocals and keep on writing new material and recording the final songs for their first album.
Finally James Lynch joined the band in July 2011 and the band is a three piece again.
Strongly influenced by classic blues (Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Robert Johnson) Rock and Roll (Chuck Berry, Little Richard) and the 60s British invasion (Cream, Free, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin) a lots of stoner bands Kyuss, Sleep, Acid King, Grand Magus and Spiritual Beggers.

10 February 2012

Doom mixed up with a lot of Stoner Rock riffs and a touch of Psychedelic tunes, that is Weed Priest from Galway. The two Lithuanians Adam Demon Lung (Guitar/Vocals) and Ragas Sabbath (Bass) are riffing you deep into the world beyond, here and there guided by Adam Demon Lung's demonic voice, while the Irishman Adrian Z Goat (Drums) is giving you the rhythm for the journey. And they are not going to take you for a short journey. None of their live recorded track is under six minutes, many of them going towards 12 minutes or beyond, and they were all recorded in one or two takes.
They also have a stunning cover of Kyuss' "Molten Universe" that is critically looking at global warming and a cover of Led Zeppelins "When The Levee Breaks". I am a big Kyuss fan myself, so I'm picky when it comes to Kyuss covers, but you really shouldn't miss this rather unconventional version of "Molten Universe".

The Priest was invoked by his 3 acolytes on October 31st of 2008. After six eons of deep slumber He now once again roams the plain of mortals preaching the sermon of doom this world is yet to wake up to.

8 February 2012

Smoking Engine is a Stoner Rock band from Dresden/Germany that was formed in 2007. These lads didn't need a bass player on their 2009 EP "On The Roads Of Cosmos Five EP" to create sounds as deep as hell. However, they now added a bass player to their team to push the speakers even more. Think of Doom that is played a bit faster with a lot of fuzz in it. All this comes with a nice rough voice that perfectly fits their rough and overall very deep sound.
Their influences are Fu Manchu, Orange Goblin, Kyuss, Slo Burn, Electric Wizard, Weedeater, Church of Misery, Dozer and Helmet and you can hear a lot of these bands in their sound.

6 February 2012

Wizards of Firetop Mountain is another great five piece Stoner Rock band from Dublin. They play classy Stoner Rock with a touch of Garage Rock a la The Hellacopters and are influenced by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, High on Fire and many more. I can also hear some Danko Jones influences in their song Dollar Hips.
A bit of a opposite to their sound that you hear on the Demo is their song "Onwards Towards The Sun" which is a heavy stoner track with a touch of doom, where you can hear the Black Sabbath influences. It's my favourite track, but it's not included in their demo, which was released 20 May 2011.
They are going to support Orange Goblin in Dublin and Belfast

With floods of fire raging from the rocky peaks, five wizards descended their sanctuary,,arriving many centuries later at the Foothills of the ancient Gaelic stronghold Dubh Linn to unleash a furious wrath of Wizardry and Riffs upon the scorched- sunken soil.

3 February 2012

Brains is a four piece blackened Rock'n'Roll band from Cork that was formed in 2009. Since all the members of this band were playing in different bands before, it's a blend of different music genres like Blues, Black Metal, Stoner and Psychedelic Rock. They are creating an unique sound that combines all the best from many different music styles. You might not get hooked on them when you listen to it the first time, but after a while you can't get enough. Especially That Awful Witch, which is almost constantly running in iTunes
They released their debut demo "Strange Meat" in 2010 and which was also released on vinyl and they are currently working on their second recording. They will also perform a few gigs in Dublin in February, so check out the Events-Section for updates.

From MySpace:

BRAINS was formed by laapot666 in 2009 and plays Blackened Rock n Roll exclusively. Brains' ultimate aim is to create serious, honest and dark Rock n Roll steeped in the influence of traditional rock arrangements, black metal atmospheres and psychedelic/stoner vibes. BRAINS released their debut demo in early 2010 entitled STRANGE MEAT and made it available as a free download. Since then BRAINS have been putting in much work in the jam room and on the live circuit with a view to becoming a live force to be reckoned with. To be updated as time events dictate...

1 February 2012

I actually don't like Sludge that much. I'm more the heavy-psychedelic-bluesy-fuzz-riff-guy, but sometimes I need a bit more than that.
Then I need a band like Rites from Galway to get what I want. Heavy in-your-face riffage and a screaming voice that is marching through your ears. Fans of 5ive, Fehler or Isis could really like this 4 piece band that was formed in Nov 2009. Kieran (Guitar/Vocals), Higgins (Guitar), Nicola (Bass) and Rory (Drums) were working together to create this beast of an EP.
Unfortunately, Rory left the Band just recently. So if you're living around Galway, are available for regular practice, gigs, recordings, tours etc, then give them a shout.

29 January 2012

It's about time that I have another Stoner Rock Band from Dublin on this blog, and here it is:
Realistic Train from Dublin. Realistic Train is a 3 piece stoner rock band, which plays some nice and fast garage rock like stoner that easily gets you off your chair or whatever you sit on. Lowrider meets Feuerzeug with a lot of stoner is probably the best way to desribe their style. But listen for yourself!!

Realistic Train are a Dublin based stoner rock band formed in 2008 with the sole intent of bringing big riffs and songs about cosmic trains to the masses. Thus far, the group have recorded and released one demo and continue to rock hard and ride free, gigging all around Ireland.

We are a ROCK band originally formed from members of Mongolia (Dunchee: drums, Tob Swift: bass) and Terrordactyl (Owensie Owens: guitar and vocals) while both of these bands were on hiatus, with the aim of writing some psychedelic/ stoner/ garage rock anthems to get us through the dark Irish summer. The original concept was formed more or less over a weekend at the Roadburn Fest in Holland last year, during the consumption of many good beers, blemmers, space cookies and mushrooms. By the end of the dark summer, as the sun re-emerged from the black clouds above us to waste it's distant rays upon our frost painted hills, the intitial project had taken on sufficient momentum to continue as a realistic band. The irony was not lost on each band member equally. "Ha ha ha", we laughed, heartily. Except Dunchee, who did one better and realized his long-term plan to move down under to Melbourne, Australia. In stepped Ruari Conaty, ex-fellow band member of Puget Sound with Owensie from back in the day. Out stepped Ror several gigs later to make way for Kenn Sweeney (Easpa Measa, The Boy You Hit is Dead...). Having recorded our first demo with Dunchee before he departed these shores, we are STILL in the rehearsal studio of reality, composing more songs from the vast bulk of material that we have generated over this time. This summer sees the emergence of a cosmic fear, a fear of the infinite universe, the galactic realities incomprehensable to the human mind; a creation of our small brains; constricted by the institutions which suppress our imagination, our visions of the past, and of the future, directing us ever closer to our own oblivion. Within the immediate surroundings of the more tangible rehearsal studio, where invisible waves collide in unison and reverberate, shaking the ground upon which we stand, legs wide, our heads and hair ever rocking back and forth, we travel to and fro, across time AND space, from the confines of the practice room to the margins of orion, from the small streets of Dublin to the colliding galaxies and expanding systems of the distant universe, the Train carries on.... ROLLING DOWN THE TRACKS INSIDE YOUR MIND NOW!!!

26 January 2012

Russian Circles is a three piece post-rock band from Chicago. It's not exactly a stoner rock band, but Russian Circles creates a nice wall of sound and I'm really looking forward to the gig in the Button Factory.
But they will also Tour through Ireland with a stop in Belfast and in Limerick from the 26th to the 28th of April this year.

Russian Circles is a three piece instrumental rock/metal band from Chicago. Russian Circles play instrumental, sprawling music which runs the gamut of heavy discordant metal, to soft delicate passages. They are also known for their energetic live shows, mostly headlining now but in their earlier days they toured with the likes of Boris, Isis, Red Sparowes, Minus the Bear, Daughters, Coheed & Cambria, Mono, and Pelican as well as appearances at the 2006 SXSW, and 2009's Bonnaroo. They were also the opening band for Tool while playing their first tour in the United Kingdom in 2007. Their name is taken from a drill exercise used in the game of ice hockey.

Formed in late 2004 by guitarist Mike Sullivan and bassist Colin DeKuiper (both formerly of instrumental band Dakota/Dakota), they quickly recruited drummer Dave Turncrantz, formerly of St. Louis band Riddle of Steel.
In the autumn of 2007, it was announced that the band had parted ways with Colin DeKuiper. As a result, the bass tracks on their second album, titled Station, were handled by ex-Botch/These Arms Are Snakes bass player Brian Cook. The group's third full-length, Geneva, was released on October 20, 2009 and reached No. 24 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.
In 2011, Russian Circles signed to Sargent House who had previously only exclusively released the band's albums on limited edition vinyl. Their fourth studio album Empros was released on October 25, 2011. A supporting tour with Deafheaven followed the release.

25 January 2012

Nice heavy grooving riffs, pounding drums and a Danzig like voice to make your head bang. That is Baleful Creed from Belfast and they are really using the power of two guitars to blow you away.
They will be live in the Ma Nelsons in Belfast together with Double Wide to present their new EP "Buried Beneath" this Saturday 28th January. Make sure that you don't miss this event!

Baleful Creed are a four piece band from Belfast and
North County Down ready to pour out their classic
rock influenced tunes in a passionate live
performance.
Featuring a dual guitar team that lay down head-
nodding chunky riffs that touch on the Stoner Rock
sounds of Black Sabbath, Danzig and Fireball
Ministry.
Soul searching lyrics that have been dragged from
the well of life's broken promises and experiences,
are woven into ear catching tunes that are fuelled by
the stomp of a powerful bass and drum rhythm
section.

Baleful Creed, from Belfast, Northern Ireland were formed with the lure to try their hand at their own songs which were influenced by Black Sabbath, Danzig, Goatsnake and Fireball Ministry, resulted in their songs becoming head-nodding chunky riffed tunes filled with soulful melodic vocals. Their music is spreading rapidly through the dedicated rock radio stations, such as Total Biker FM, ARFM (London), and many internet rock stations like Rock Radio NI, ShineFM, South West Donegal FM and the band have featured twice in live interviews/acoustic sessions on Belfast's Blast FM 106.4.

The latest EP called Buried Beneath, which was recorded in the same studios that The Answer use, was officially released on 28 January 2012 in Ma Nelson's Rock Bar, Belfast. The Killing Time debut EP was released earlier in 2011. The band have also played support to Bill Steer's (Carcass/Napalm Death) blues rock band Firebird in the Limelight in October 2011 and have gained rave reviews from their live shows.

RECENT REVIEW QUOTES:

From Phil Allely for Total Biker FM: Buried Beneath acts as a perfect introduction to the boys Southern Rock influenced double guitar–based doom tinged sound. Here we get to see the stoner rock roots, the classic rock influenced guitar hooks and of course there is the fist-punching attitude, which along with those twin guitars, let Baleful Creed strut their collective stuff very well indeed (4 out of 5 stars).

From Mark Ashby for This Is Not A Scene: Live Review - Baleful Creed – a classic rock quartet playing like a modernised Mott The Hoople, complete with ravaging guitar solos. ‘Fortune Seeker’ is a strong song, with its stoner elements mixed with classic late 60s/early 70s inflections, while ‘Crazy Man’ is another highlight of this well-performed set, melding Black Sabbath style riffs with modern influences such as Danzig. The second half of their set is just glorious.

From Mark Ashby for HevyPetal: Opener Baleful Creed sums up the entire package in one fell blow – heavy southern rock with a strong doom undertone, grinding yet melodic twin guitars, and vocals that sound like Zakk Wylde if he could actually sing! There are elements of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Sabbath, Danzig and The Cult all fused into a neat, toe-tapping package.

23 January 2012

Thanks to Steve Murphy from Kings Destroy for sharing their album with me. Kings Destroy is a nice downtempo doomlike stonerrock band from Brooklyn/NYC. Since Steve Murphy is an Irish citizen, who's representing Ireland and Stoner Rock in the whole wide world, it's a great pleasure for me, to share this album with you.
Their sound is heavily influenced by Black Sabbath with a great mixture of other Stoner Rock and and especially Doom Bands like Electric Wizard. And all that has a nice Hardcore finish.
I always say, that you can classify the early Sabbath Work as Stoner Rock and these guys prove that I'm (almost) right.
The members are Carl Porcaro (Guitar), Chris Skowronski (Guitar), Steve Murphy(Vocals), Rob Sefcik (Drums), Ed Bocchino (Bass)

Bio:
Kings Destroy, NYC’s newest hybrid of Stoner Rock, Doom and Hardcore, unites musicians from many of the genres’ most prolific bands. Hailing from the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, KD features guitarists Carl Porcaro and Chris Skowronski from legendary, 100k album selling ‘Killing Time’, vocalist Steve Murphy from ‘Uppercut’, drummer Rob Sefcik formerly of ‘Mans Ruin’, ‘The Begotten’, ‘Uppercut’ and ‘Electric Frankenstein’ and bassist Ed Bocchino of ‘Stanley’ and ‘Uppercut’. The common bond? “An addiction to excessive volume, power and driving, distorted riffs” explains Porcaro. With influences ranging from Zeppelin and the Who to The Melvins, Yob and Cro Mags, KD describes their sound as “brutal Sabbath heaviness with hardcore outbursts and disturbed vocals verging on the demented.”
King’s Destroy will release their debut 7-inch on May 25th, featuring the singles “Old Yeller” and “Medusa” with digital versions available May 31st. Their yet to be titled full length, LP, produced by the legendary Sanford Parker (Pelican, Nachtmystium) is scheduled for a Fall 2010 release.

This band should definitely more recognised. We Hunt Buffalo is a Stoner Rock trio from Vancouver/Canada which plays some nice fuzzy tunes and they remind me a bit of the Truckfighters with a touch of Asteroid. The bandmembers are Ryan Forsythe (Vocals/Guitar/Bari Sax), Brendan Simpson (Bass/Vocals) and Brandon Carter (Drums/Percussion)
This is their deupt LP, which follow up album to their self titled EP, released in 2010.

22 January 2012

The Machine is a heavy-psychedelic band from Rotterdam/Holland. The members are David Eering (guitar/vocals), Davy Boogaard (drums) and Hans van Heemst (bass). They are going to release their fourth album called "Calmer Than You Are" in March and it will be released on Elektrohasch.
You can listen to the song Sphere already and it's a really nice track in the style of The Machine. Although they decided to do a more straight forward rock album, you can still here the heavy psych influences that makes the sound of The Machine so unique.

19 January 2012

Just added the Events to the Tab-Bar which lets you quickly access upcoming Events in Ireland. The design isn't quite right yet, so I will tweak it during the next few days until we are all satisfied with the look and feel. So stay tuned for updates. Should you think that there's a gig missing, email me at stonerrockdublin@gmail.com and let me know where, when and who's going to play and I will add it to the Events.

18 January 2012

Thanks to Pyramidal from Spain for sharing their first Album with me. It reminds me of a great mixture between Samsara Blues Experiment, The:Egocentrics and The Heads.

Pyramidal is a Psychedelic / Space-Rock band from Alicante, Spain. Their influences come from progressive and hard rock bands of the 70s such as Hawkwind, Can, Black Sabbath, Amon Düül II, Captain Beyond or Ash Ra Tempel.

Born in 2010, Pyramidal’s members have a long career within the hard rock, stoner and psychedelic music scene, and played in several bands before.
Their first work came up at the end of December 2011 under the title “Dawn In Space”.
A seven tracks LP mostly instrumental, full of lysergic sounds, obscure psychedelia and hypnotic rhythms that will take you to the deepest trance.

ORANGE GOBLIN ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM RELEASE DATES AND FULL UK & IRELAND TOUR

ORANGE GOBLIN will release their brand new studio album ‘A EULOGY FOR THE DAMNED’ on Monday 13th February 2012. This date is the same day as Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut album in 1970!

Monday 13th February 2012 – UK & R.O.W

Tuesday 14th February 2012 – USA

This is the bands 7th studio album but first for new home CANDLELIGHT RECORDS.

The album was recorded at The Animal Farm studio in South London, UK. It was produced and engineered by Jamie Dodd and mastered by twice Grammy nominated Pink Floyd engineer Andy Jackson at Tube Mastering.

The album will be released on CD and Limited Edition Coloured Vinyl in Gatefold Sleeve.

To celebrate the release of the new album the band will hit the road in April 2012 for the ‘A Eulogy for the Damned UK & Ireland Tour’. Dates for this are as follows and support on all dates (except Irish shows) comes from GRIFTER:

16 January 2012

Thanks to Eric from KillKillKill for sharing their wonderful 4 track EP with me. KillKillKill is not only a nice name, the music these lads make is also really great. A really trippy, relaxed psychedelic sound that make you see the sunshine even if it's in the middle of the night. Just lay back in the grass, turn on their music on and relax. But be careful, you could face reality when you return to earth again.
Here's their Bio, which also explains their rather confusing and aggressive name. The name indicates some different music, but do not be distracted by the name.

We are a trip-music-collective in Los Angeles made of many
different musicians. A couple of friends started the collective
because we were bored of terrestrial drugs and playing standard music
and we needed a new psychic energy. We harnessed all the psychic
energy we could find and killed what we new of standard music. We
Killed the idea of traditional song structure.... We Killed
traditional band makeup... and we Killed any business that has to do
with our music... that is where the name Kill Kill Kill came from. We
then sent an open invitation to any part of the universe that feels
bored. Over the years the collective has had more than 20 members come
and go and come back again. The members include our friends from
childhood and more recently collaborations with cosmic brothers and
sisters like members from Acid Mothers Temple and the Brian Jonestown
Masacre. This is our 15th album and it was recorded in Echo Park in
2011. There is also a split 7" single with our friends Oxbow on our
friends record label Hydrahead Industries for this same album.

15 January 2012

Thanks to Max from the Italian label Go Down Records for sharing this nice compilation with me.
This compilation features 30 Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock and Rock 'n' Roll tracks that were released during the existing of Go Down Records. This is a nice collection of songs and you shouldn't miss it. So enjoy this nice piece of work:

14 January 2012

There will be some heavy guitar work in the Lower Deck,Dublin on the 21. January 2012 and it will start at 8pm. It's 8 € in, so it's a fair price for a lot of bands. Would be nice to see a few people around there.

Sickener is a 5-piece Grindcore band from Dublin/Ireland, formed in Nov 2010

Also announced:Wölfbait another word for shite also featuring Colin Mifsud and more importantly than him Jaakko on vocalsMurmur Prog/ Kraut Rock/ Psych behemoth
and
Wild Rocket fuzzed out space rock messers

Thanks to Santiago Montrucchio from the Argentinian stoner rock band Samurai for sharing their first CD.
These three Lads play some great stoner rock witch a touch of psychedelica and heavy riff-work and are obviously influenced by bands like Los Natas, Kyuss or Viaje A 800.
Especially the track Casablanca reminds me of the good old Kyuss days.
This is a nice piece of nine grooving tracks that will bring the desert straight into your living room, so don't hesitate and get it now!

12 January 2012

Did you think that the only instruments you can use to make good psychedelic stoner rock are guitars and bass? Well, think again!
Grombira from Würzburg/Germany (this is where I am from, by the way. Well, not really, but close ot it)
are creating a spheric sound that makes you relaxed, no matter how busy your day was, with oriental instruments. Raleph Nebl is using the Oud and his mesmerizing voice to beam you into the spheres of you brain, while Joe Köhlers Saz (or Bağlama) is supporting the psychedelic experience. The whole journey is guided by the grooving drums of Flo Eckhoff.
They already opened Karma to Burn when they played in the Cafe Cairo in Würzburg and are currently recording their first album, so stay tuned. Maybe I will get a copy of it.

10 January 2012

I'm very proud to introduce to you the band Mongolia. A three piece Stoner Rock band from Dublin, Ireland.
This band creates an amazing wall of sound like Karma to Burn or Tank 86 with hints of Toner Low, that will blow you mind and melt your brain while listening to it. I actually have to repress the urge the turn the volume up to the max, lay back and give a shit about this blog entry. But I would like to share this with you all and not only with my neighbours.
Unfortunately Mongolia is not gigging or writing at the moment, since they are committed to other bands at the moment like Realistic Train and Wizards Of Firetop Mountain (reviews in the future), but I hope to see them in action someday.

Stoner Rock by the Stoner Rockers!

Mongolia, a three piece instrumental stoner rock band, formed in Dublin, Ireland in December 2004 and performed their first gig in Bohs Bar, Dalymount Park, Dublin on March 31st 2005. A few more shows were played soon after and a two track demo was recorded at this stage to mark time ahead of a planned hiatus which saw then off the gig scene from May of '05 until March the following year.

In March 2006 Mongolia resumed by playing support to "Puget Sound" at their final show in "Crawdaddy", Dublin and they went on gigging consistently throughout Ireland playing 20+ shows including "Vagabongs of the Western World" - an unprecedented 8 date Irish tour in August of that year taking in Dublin, Cork (Doom 102) , Limerick , Galway , Leitrim (a sunrise/drug fuelled set at SAI Fest+ a House Party) ,Mayo(House Party) and Kilcoole-Co.Wicklow. They finished the year with a performance at the 2006 GGI in Edinburgh, Scotland,then played support to Sunn O))) in Belfast and Galway and followed this up by supporting "Kylesa" for their show in Dublins "Voodoo Lounge" alongside "Slomatics" and "The Boy You Hit Is Dead". At this point a two track demo was once again recorded to mark time before embarking on another planned hiatus.

In April 2007 the band regrouped and, in the best traditions of d.i.y, hastily put together a four track tour sampler CD to spread far and wide as they set off on a seven date European Tour taking in England ( Brighton), Belgium (Gent), Holland (Utrecht+Den Haag) and Germany (Rostock+Bremen)! Songs featured on this self-titled disc were Black Leaf, IV (recorded and mixed by Eoin Whitfield and James Eager respectively at Hive Studios, Kilcoole - Nov. '06) I and III (recorded live at the Voodoo Lounge by Peter Sisk - 28/04/06) Gigging around Ireland continued consistently throughout the remainder of the year including summer festivals and weekenders.

2008 saw Mongolia release their first full, self-titled, four track demo CD (later becoming known as "Black Leaf") Songs featured on this release were "I", "II", "III" and "Black Leaf". These tracks were recorded in February by Jon Kelly in The Jam Factory Thomas Street and mixed by James Eager of Hive Studios. They then set off in March for a ten day UK tour with fellow three piece stoner doom disciples "End The Agony". Immediately preceded by a T-shirt/CD launch alongside "Trenches", "Exploding Birds" and"Truck" in Dublins "Lower Deck" they went on to play in Brighton, Nottingham, London, Bristol, Bradford, Edinburgh,Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester. Following on from this the band gigged on playing a smattering of shows around Ireland culminating in a weekend of dates with Berlin sludgecore merchants "Insuiciety".It was now once again time for a planned hiatus! One track ("Stoned Nomad") was recorded and mixed by James Eager to yet again mark time. Tob and Dunch used this hiatus to form "Realistic Train" with Owensie("Terrordactyl") over the summer. In September Mongolia were back and embarked on a "Southern Rampage:3 Days of Hell Super Tour" stonering up with "End The Agony" whilst also merging the tour with "Sotatila" (Austria/Finland hardcore) and "Ruidosa Inmundicia"(Austria/Chile hardcore). These gigs were billed as "possibly" Mongolias last as a lenghty hiatus was bearing down upon the horizon...

2009 saw the band working on other projects as Mongolia remained on hiatus.

2010 began with a free digital re-release of the "Black Leaf" demo with "Stoned Nomad" added as a "bonus track". In March Damo and Tob arrived in Australia and joined Dunch(who had moved there 18 mths previously)to quickly reunite and work on new matherial before setting off on a 7 date/4 week tour of Australia, playing gigs and a festival(Such Is Life) with Aussie stoner bands "Satori" and "Spacebong" amongst many others. By May of 2010 the members once more found themselves in different hemispheres and so it was again time for a hiatus.

In June 2011 Mongolia briefly regrouped and played "Doom over the Deck" supporting "Council of Tanith" for their LP release alongside "Rites", "Síoraí Geimhreadh" and "Fortress"(now "ZOM"). They also supported "Twisted Mass" on the release of their EP in July and performed at the 10th Rockfest in Dublin in August.

The Stoners keep on Rolling
Notes on members:

Damo also plays Guitar in "Easpa Measa" and Drums in "Contort"
Tob also plays Bass in "Realistic Train" and Guitar in "Wizards Of Firetop Mountain"
Dunch also drums in "Realistic Train" and is the Vocalist in "Wizards Of Firetop Mountain"

8 January 2012

Thanks to Arthur for sharing their EP with me. Pax is a four piece stoner rock band with a touch of metal and progressive/post rock from Sao Paulo, Brazil. The band members are Arthur Zarpelon (Vocals & Guitar), Daniel Ribeiro (Guitar & Backing Vocals), J Monaco (Drums & Percussion) and Thiago Veiga (Bass) and they really know how to do their job. Great heavy riff-work combined with a great voice makes you head bang, but you can also lay back and enjoy like with "House on the Sand"
They recently released their Album "II" that contains a nice load of 4 songs + 1 bonus track from their first EP, which I would like to share with you.

7 January 2012

We're going to Russia today. This is were Evil Cosmonaut is from. Formed in 2008 by Alex ‘Kaza’ Kazachev (guitar, vocals), Denis ‘Memphisdead’ Petrov (bass) and Konstantin Sosnin (drums), these lads bring us a very nice fuzzy heavy blues rock with stoner influences. The first Demo was released somewhen 2008 and I've been waiting for new stuff for a long time. They now released their new Album "We have landed". Have a listen to them, lean back and enjoy this Saturday evening with their Demo EP.

4 January 2012

Gearmandude! One of my favourites when it comes to Fuzz-Pedal reviews. Some say he might be Jack Black, I say I don't know and I don't mind. I actually don't even mind that he is making reviews, I just listen to him shredding those pedals. And most of them are amazing!!! I love his sound, and so do you, I guess. So, since I don't have anything else to say today, enjoy this beast of Fuzz! Earthquaker Devices is one of the best names for Pedals anyway.

3 January 2012

Today I have the Smoking Sessions Volume 1 for you. This sampler contains the best Irish Stoner Rock and Doom Metal Bands. Some really nice stuff, I tell you. You can relax to this stuff as well as bang your head. But listen for yourself:

Welcome everybody to my new blog. This is the first time I'm actually blogging, so the first couple of weeks will be a bit wild, I guess.
I am actually German, but I'm living in Ireland since 2nd January 2011, so please do not mind my English and correct me where you can. I can only get better.

This blog is dedicated to Stoner Rock and everything related to this genre. I am not going to blog exclusively about bands from Dublin or Ireland, I just want to bring everybody of those who live here closer together.
So I will (planned) to post a lot about our music, not only reviews. So we will see what happens in the future.

To start off my first post, I would like to introduce to you FuzzedOut from Galway, who actually has the same plan than I have, but he's way ahead.Fuzzed Out also has a Radio show on Rascal Radio every Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm (Need to change my shift, so that I'm at home around 6 on Tuesday). Tune in, I will do so!